*****FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*****
                                             November 9, 2000

                 Yellow Cat Productions of Washington, DC, is proud to announce the
                 release of their latest documentary,

                                FREEDOM FIGHTER: The Story of Lian Shengde
                                (50 minutes) ©2000 Yellow Cat Productions
                                        Directed by Mary Flannery
                                Director of Photography:  Michael Cormier
 
                                  The grand premiere will take place at:
                                       Visions Cinema/Bistro/Lounge
                                         1927 Florida Avenue, NW
                                          Washington, DC  22009
 
                                       just north of Dupont Circle
 
                                      Wednesday, November 29th, 2000
                                                 7:30 pm
                              $10.00 tickets--to benefit Free China Movement

                 Lian Shengde will be present for questions afterwards.  Mr. Lian, who
                 resides in Herndon, Virginia, is the founder and Executive Director of
                 Free China Movement, a Washington-based coalition of 30 dissident
                 Chinese groups.

                 The life of young Lian Shengde was altered forever when he was arrested
                 in June, 1989, for his leadership role in the Tiananmen Square uprising.
                 In FREEDOM FIGHTER Shengde tells his life story--beginning with his
                 childhood in Chengdu during the Cultural Revolution.  He reminisces
                 about his social and political awakening in the late 1980's as a student
                 at the University of Tianjin; his activities at Tiananmen Square; his
                 arrest and subsequent incarceration in Qinchen Prison--with no due
                 process of law and no idea how long he would be locked up; the hardships
                 he endured when he tried to resume his life in China after 18 months of
                 imprisonment; and we see him in action in the Washington area, as he
                 continues to fight for individual freedom in his homeland.
 
 

                 "I thought by telling the story of one man, that Americans would gain a
                 greater appreciation for the difficulties that ordinary Chinese face in
                 their day-to-day lives," says director Mary Flannery.  "Shengde really
                 impressed me with his dedication to the freedom cause.  Here's a guy who
                 was leading a quiet life, studying computer science in Tianjin, when
                 suddenly his whole world turned upside down.  Now he lives in exile,
                 with no forseeable means of returning to China.  His parents, his
                 brother and sister have been refused passports to come and visit him.
                 It's really sad.  And this is just one example.  There must be thousands
                 more stories just like his."

                 The video was filmed entirely in Washington, DC, with no outside
                 funding.  Mary Flannery, who directed and edited the documentary,
                 artfully uses stock footage of the Mao years, (obtained from National
                 Archives), and old propaganda posters to evoke Lian's past.  His prison
                 years are re-enacted in a delapidated bathroom.  We see him in America
                 speaking to a group of university students, visiting congressmen on
                 Capitol Hill, and leading groups of protesters around Washington, DC, as
                 part of his ongoing battle against human rights abuses in China.

                 FREEDOM FIGHTER is being distributed by Advantage Media Group of
                 Ellicott City, Maryland.  They are seeking international broadcast
                 venues for the program.  Meanwhile, Yellow Cat Productions is selling
                 VHS copies--in both Chinese and English--via the internet.

                 The video costs US$34.95.  VISA and MasterCard are accepted.
                 For more information, or to obtain a copy, contact Mary Flannery at
                 Yellow Cat Productions.  Or visit the Yellow Cat website:
                 www.yellowcat.com/free.html

 
                                   ***********************************

                 "FREEDOM FIGHTER vividly conveys the excitement, commitment and idealism
                 of young people swept up in a grass-roots movement to achieve political
                 change in China in 1989. "
                    --Merle Goldman
                    Professor of Chinese History at Boston University
 
 

                 "Subtle and compelling--a true-to life portrait of one man's odyssey
                 from student to pro-democracy fighter.  Lian Shengde's memory of being
                 whisked off to prison without being able to say goodbye to his anxious
                 father is heartbreaking.  But FREEDOM FIGHTER ends on an optimistic
                 note:  Lian at home in America with a loving wife, awaiting the birth of
                 his first child--and still fighting the good fight."
                    --Jan Wong
                    Author of RED CHINA BLUES and former correspondent for the GLOBE &
                 MAIL
 
 

                 For more information, contact:
                 Mary Flannery
                 Yellow Cat Productions
                 505 11th Street, SE
                 Washington, DC  20003
                 (202) 543-2221
                 mary@yellowcat.com